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U.S. Sensation EepyBird to headline Maker Faire UK

Extreme Diet Coke and Mentos Experiments heading to Newcastle

Their show has been described as a candy-powered version of the Bellagio fountains in Las Vegas and now, EepyBird and their “Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments” are heading to Maker Faire UK on 25 & 26 April.

This year’s Maker Faire UK at Life Science Centre is set to have added fizz thanks to internet sensations EepyBird who are flying in from the U.S. to perform a spectacular live version of their famous “Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments,” one of the Internet’s best-known viral videos of all time. The show will be performed outdoors in Times Square as geysers of soda will erupt over 25 feet into the air when EepyBird’s Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz don their lab coats and drop 624 Mentos mints into 104 two-litre bottles of Diet Coke.

Linda Conlon, Chief Executive at Life said: “Fritz and Stephen epitomise the maker ethos, they’re creative and like to experiment with everyday things. Their show is a wonderful and entertaining spectacle using such mundane things as coke and mints. We’re confident it’ll be a huge success.” To see the video, click here: http://www.eepybird.com/featured-video/the-extreme-diet-coke-mentos-experiments

Fritz Grobe of EepyBird, said: “We cannot wait to put on a great show for everyone attending Maker Faire UK. We’re excited to see all the projects from other Makers too – we’re regulars at the US Maker Faires and we love the buzz of meeting so many creative people in once place.”

EepyBird will perform two shows on Saturday 25 April and one show on Sunday 26 April. Timings will be announced nearer the time. Tickets are now on sale and cost £9.95 per adult and £24.10 for a family ticket (2 adults and 2 children or 1 adult and 3 children). For more information or to buy tickets online, please visit www.MakerFaireUK.com

This year’s headline supporters of Maker Faire UK are: Northumbria University, The Reece Foundation, MediaTek Labs and Make Magazine.

ENDS. MEDIA CONTACT: Nicola McIntosh at Life Science Centre, Tel: 0191 234 8209 Email: Nicola.mcintosh@life.org.uk Mobile: 07941801552 Twitter: @ScienceatLife @MakerFaire_UK Facebook: @ScienceatLife

Notes to editors:

About EepyBird

EepyBird is a company that explores creativity, and in particular, the ways in which everyday objects can do extraordinary things. Their Internet videos have been seen over 150 million times, and EepyBird has been featured on The Late Show with David Letterman, Mythbusters, and more. In their laboratory deep in the woods of Buckfield, Maine, Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz and their creative team experiment with Coke & Mentos, sticky notes, paper airplanes, shampoo, and more. They spend countless hours searching for ways to transform these things from everyday life into something new, into something unforgettable. Their video, “The Extreme Sticky Note Experiments,” transformed over 250,000 sticky notes into cascading waterfalls of color and has had over 4 million views online since September of 2008. In 2012 they published The Viral Video Manifesto, the critically acclaimed guide to successful viral video.

Why does Diet Coke & Mentos work? It’s a process called nucleation. You can read about it at: http://www.eepybird.com/featured-video/coke-and-mentos-featured-video/science-of-coke-mentos/

About Fritz

Fritz Grobe left his studies of mathematics at Yale University to become a professional juggler. He went on to win 5 gold medals at the International Jugglers Championships and hold a world record for juggling way too many objects. He was a lead actor and featured solo clown in the original cast of Birdhouse Factory, a touring Cirque du Soleil spinoff. Co-founder of EepyBird, he lives in the small town of Buckfield, Maine.

About Stephen

Stephen Voltz spent 20 years as a trial lawyer in federal and state courts, winning leading cases in Massachusetts involving discrimination, fraud, and racketeering. But before he grew up to be a responsible adult, he was inspired to be a performer by the vibrant street-performing scene in San Francisco. He went on to study at Celebration Barn Theater in South Paris, Maine, and have a one-man show at the San Francisco Fringe Festival. Co-founder of EepyBird, he splits his time between Gloucester, Massachusetts, and Buckfield, Maine.

About Maker Faire:

Part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new, Maker Faire is an all-ages gathering of tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, science clubs, authors, artists, students, and commercial exhibitors. All of these “makers” come to Maker Faire to show what they have made and to share what they have learned.

To view video footage of previous Maker Faire UK 2014, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm0WBReGsqc

The original Maker Faire event was founded by the editors of MAKE magazine and held in San Mateo, CA. In 2013, Maker Faire Bay Area celebrated its eighth annual show with some 900 makers and 120,000 people in attendance. World Maker Faire New York, the other flagship event, has grown in three years to 500+ makers and 55,000 attendees. Detroit, Kansas City, Newcastle (UK), Oslo, Shenzhen, Rome, and Tokyo are the home of “featured” 2014 Maker Faires (200+ makers). Additionally, 100+ community-driven, independently organized “Mini” Maker Faires will be produced around the world in 2015. Maker Faire is primarily designed to be forward-looking, showcasing makers who are exploring new forms and new technologies. But it’s not just for the novel in technical fields; Maker Faire features innovation and experimentation across the spectrum of science, engineering, art, performance and craft.

Maker Faire is a gathering of fascinating, curious people who enjoy learning and who love sharing what they can do. It’s a venue for makers to show examples of their work and interact with others about it. Many makers say they have no other place to share what they do. DIY (Do-It-Yourself) is often invisible in our communities, taking place in shops, garages and on kitchen tables. It’s typically out of the spotlight of traditional art or science or craft events. Maker Faire makes visible these projects and ideas that we don’t encounter every day.

Maker Faire is brought to you by Maker Media. Maker Media publishes MAKE magazine, produces Maker Faire, and offers DIY electronics, tools, kits, and books through its online and pop-up Maker Shed stores.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nicola McIntosh .